We were defeated by our own: Deuba

KATHMANDU, Jan 1: Nepali Congress (NC) President and Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba have expressed commitment to form a high-level probe to investigate into the defeat of NC in the recently held parliamentary and provincial assembly elections.

Addressing a function organized in Kathmandu by the party's sister organization, Nepal Students' Union (NSU), on the occasion National Reconciliation Day on Sunday, Deuba asked the party leaders and cadres not to be disappointed by the poll results. "Why are youths so disappointed by the poll results? Even as I am already in my old age, I am not at all disappointed," he said, adding, "We have received a respectable number of votes under the proportional representation electoral system."

Deuba also expressed commitment to punish anyone in the party involved in defeating the party's own candidates. "I will form a high-level probe," he further said. Deuba viewed that scheming against own candidates increased in the party after those involved in scheming during the local polls went unpunished.

While promising an impartial investigation, Deuba also criticized those who criticized him for the poll debacle. "Why do they blame me for their own defeat?" he questioned. "We were defeated by our own," Deuba further said.

Deuba complained that NC cadres left the vote counting centers at many places especially during nights and this could have also led to their defeat.